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PACT/wet air regeneration of an organic chemical waste

page 1

Section 1. CHEMICAL WASTES
PACT®/WET AIR REGENERATION OF
AN ORGANIC CHEMICAL WASTE
Richard M. Rollins, Manager
Claude E. Ellis, Product Manager
Craig L. Berndt, Product Manager
Zimpro, Inc.
Rothschild, Wisconsin 54474
The Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1948 and its amendments established the
basis for water pollution control in this country. In 1972 Congress passed PL 92-500, which
called for extensive reforms to the 1948 act, including a mandate for massive improvements
in water pollution control. PL 92-500 with minor modifications made in the late 1970s
established the concepts of best practical treatment (BPT), best conventional treatment
(BCT) and best available treatment (BAT) for industrial water pollution control.
While the BPT and BCT levels of wastewater treatment were established to assure removal
of conventional pollutants [five-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), suspended solids,
oil and grease], the concept of BAT has evolved to include removal of specific chemical
constituents. For this reason, wastewater treatment objectives for many industries have
expanded from conventional pollutant removal to removal of priority pollutants and other
contaminants, including chemical oxygen demand (COD), total organic carbon (TOC),
color and toxicity.
The need to improve industrial waste treatment and enhance removal of priority pollutants has focused attention on powdered activated carbon treatment. The PACT®
process—addition of powdered activated carbon to the aeration basins of the activated sludge
process—provides efficient waste treatment of nonbiodegradable waste components via
adsorption and removal of biodegradable components via biological oxidation. Additionally,
further mechanisms are enhanced through adsorption of inhibitory waste components.
PACT
In pilot- and full-scale PACT demonstrations and in full-scale operating facilities, the
PACT process has been successfully applied to difficult to treat wastewaters. In municipal
facilities, where significant industrial wastes have caused major treatment problems, PACT
has provided efficient, reliable waste treatment. Successful combined domestic/industrial
waste treatment was demonstrated at Kalamazoo, Michigan, and East St. Louis, Illinois, and
is being obtained in the operating PACT facilities at Vernon, Connecticut, East Burlington,
North Carolina, and Mt. Holly, New Jersey [1-3]. In all of these applications, conventional
biological treatment provided neither satisfactory performance nor adequate treatment
stability.
PACT treatment of industrial wastes has been demonstrated for refinery wastewaters
[4-6], coke plant wastewater [7], synthetic fuel production wastewaters [8, 9] and
pharmaceutical wastewater [ 10]. For treatment of organic chemicals wastewaters, the PACT
process (when compared to activated sludge) has provided improved removals of conventional pollutants and ammonia nitrogen [10-12]. PACT process removal of priority pollutants from chemical wastes has been reported superior to that achieved by activated sludge
followed by granular activated carbon columns [13,14]. Performance data summarizing
pollutant removal by the PACT process treating organic chemical wastewaters are shown in
Table I.

Section 1. CHEMICAL WASTES
PACT®/WET AIR REGENERATION OF
AN ORGANIC CHEMICAL WASTE
Richard M. Rollins, Manager
Claude E. Ellis, Product Manager
Craig L. Berndt, Product Manager
Zimpro, Inc.
Rothschild, Wisconsin 54474
The Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1948 and its amendments established the
basis for water pollution control in this country. In 1972 Congress passed PL 92-500, which
called for extensive reforms to the 1948 act, including a mandate for massive improvements
in water pollution control. PL 92-500 with minor modifications made in the late 1970s
established the concepts of best practical treatment (BPT), best conventional treatment
(BCT) and best available treatment (BAT) for industrial water pollution control.
While the BPT and BCT levels of wastewater treatment were established to assure removal
of conventional pollutants [five-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), suspended solids,
oil and grease], the concept of BAT has evolved to include removal of specific chemical
constituents. For this reason, wastewater treatment objectives for many industries have
expanded from conventional pollutant removal to removal of priority pollutants and other
contaminants, including chemical oxygen demand (COD), total organic carbon (TOC),
color and toxicity.
The need to improve industrial waste treatment and enhance removal of priority pollutants has focused attention on powdered activated carbon treatment. The PACT®
process—addition of powdered activated carbon to the aeration basins of the activated sludge
process—provides efficient waste treatment of nonbiodegradable waste components via
adsorption and removal of biodegradable components via biological oxidation. Additionally,
further mechanisms are enhanced through adsorption of inhibitory waste components.
PACT
In pilot- and full-scale PACT demonstrations and in full-scale operating facilities, the
PACT process has been successfully applied to difficult to treat wastewaters. In municipal
facilities, where significant industrial wastes have caused major treatment problems, PACT
has provided efficient, reliable waste treatment. Successful combined domestic/industrial
waste treatment was demonstrated at Kalamazoo, Michigan, and East St. Louis, Illinois, and
is being obtained in the operating PACT facilities at Vernon, Connecticut, East Burlington,
North Carolina, and Mt. Holly, New Jersey [1-3]. In all of these applications, conventional
biological treatment provided neither satisfactory performance nor adequate treatment
stability.
PACT treatment of industrial wastes has been demonstrated for refinery wastewaters
[4-6], coke plant wastewater [7], synthetic fuel production wastewaters [8, 9] and
pharmaceutical wastewater [ 10]. For treatment of organic chemicals wastewaters, the PACT
process (when compared to activated sludge) has provided improved removals of conventional pollutants and ammonia nitrogen [10-12]. PACT process removal of priority pollutants from chemical wastes has been reported superior to that achieved by activated sludge
followed by granular activated carbon columns [13,14]. Performance data summarizing
pollutant removal by the PACT process treating organic chemical wastewaters are shown in
Table I.